Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Mid-Spring Sandals

One thing I learned when I moved to the Northeast from the room-temperature climate of Southern California was that fashion moved in gradations with changes in the season.

As winter gives way to milder temperatures, women cast off their Ugg boots (and, if they are smart, throw them into the dumpster) and don normal shoes. Then, come April and occasional pleasant days, women start wearing sandals. But not espadrilles or strappy white ones.

What is wanted in these climates and at those moments are dark sandals, sometimes worn with socks. This makes some sense because rain showers and even occasional dustings of snow occur well into the spring season.

For many years, the ideal spring sandal, at least for fashion-forward young women, was a sort of Goth-looking black number with heavy straps and a lot of coverage. Such sandals went well with jeans and skirts alike. They were just the thing to wear to as the cherry tree blossoms burst out and then fell and as leaves began to appear on the trees and provide patches of shade that would be welcome in the summer to come.

Now, I notice, fashion houses have caught up and are including midseason sandals, including some heavy black ones, in their collections. Here are few from 2016:

You probably wouldn't wear sandals like these in the hot summer months, except possibly for trips downtown when you want to avoid the gunk on the streets.

In Southern California, black Goth sandals can be seen all year. So can knee-high boots, for that matter. Because the seasons are so similar, there is no need to acquire separate wardrobes for summer and winter. A few die-hards change things up based on the calendar and tradition, but those women are rare.

Notes

1. Another fashion custom here for many years was to paint one's toenails a light pink shade in the spring, then to switch to bolder reds as the weather got hot. At least this was the housewife look.
Then the younger women switched to light blue, deep maroon and black nail shades, depending on their moods, not the seasons. This has been imitated by the grownups, including the hausfraus, for several years now. One effect of this is that choosing a color at a mani-pedi shop has become a time-consuming, mildly agonizing experience.

2. Those black high-coverages sandals gave way to another unfortunate footwear fashion that happily seems to be fading: peep-toe boots.
To a form-follows-function person, as I am generally, boots are for puddle protection and to keep the feet warm. Boots that expose your big toes to the elements do not meet those criteria.
The peep-toe look was fresh and new for a while, but it always struck me as strange. Honestly, how many women regard their toes, even when beautifully manicured, as among their best physical features?
What's the point?